ผลของโมบายแอปพลิเคชันการควบคุมน้ำหนักต่อพฤติกรรมการบริโภคอาหารกิจกรรมทางกาย และน้ำหนักตัวในวัยรุ่นที่มีภาวะน้ำหนักเกิน

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research, two-group pretest-posttest design, aimed to study the effects of a weight control mobile application on food consumption behavior, physical activity, and body weight of overweight adolescents. Participants were recruited from two extra-large high schools in the municipality of Phuket Province. Multi-stage random sampling was used to obtain a control group (n = 48) and an experimental group (n = 48) matched on gender and age. The experimental group received the weight control mobile application for a period of 8 weeks. Research instruments were 1) Weight control mobile application, 2) Weight control mobile application handbook, 3) Demographic data questionnaire form, and 4) Food consumption behavior questionnaire form. All instruments were validated for their content validity by 3 experts. The digital weighing apparatus was tested by comparison with a standard tool. The reliability of the physical activity function hi the weight control mobile application was tested by test-retest, yielding the Pearson's correlation coefficient of 99. The reliability of the food consumption behavior questionnaire was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, yielding a value of .73. Demographic data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. The differences in mean score of food consumption behavior and body weight between the experimental and the control group were analyzed by independent t-test. The different mean rank score of physical activity between the experimental and the control group was analyzed by Mann-Whitney U-test. The results revealed that: 1. The mean score of food consumption behavior after intervention between the experimental and the control group was not significantly different (p > 05). 2. The mean rank score of physical activity after intervention in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < .001), and the mean score of body weight after intervention in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (p < .001). Findings of the study indicated that the weight control mobile application may help overweight adolescents in school to have better food consumption behavior and better physical activity behavior, which in turn then reduces their weight. Therefore, schools should adopt this weight control mobile application to control body weight in overweight adolescents in school or outside school.